Actioir euse



G. C. DAVISON.

DELAYED ACTION FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.8. 191a.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I {N. l/fillllllflillllllll lfirfffll Patented July 22,1919.

G. C DAVISON.

DELAYED ACTION FUSE. APPLIJCATION FILED AUG8| 19H}.

2 SHEETS*SHEET 2.

1,3 1 1,054. Patented Jul 22, 1919.

l mull EState "of-Connecticut, "have invented certain newlanitl''iiseful Improvements in Delayedr comparatively slow bu rningfpbwder,o'clockstrikes the The' zpljes'ent invention frelates to improve 5interval Toff fime "after the projectile targefl or the water, ortheearth v i 178,378, filed July 3,

rojeetiles for use against submarines andasthef case may 1 L to sework,for otherfldevices,"but none of these, as:

ifa'ras "I am' aware; embo rdis' the principle; l and advantage ioftheinvention herein dethe explosive charge containedthrein.

hrsting charge f he pro ee'tile;

V re suelf delayed action haire hitherto been made by using trains off VH i a The'ignition ehamb may be attaehed to almost any }o f,the wellknown types of pea owder; was-'ignited'insaid ehainber and the 1*tiniejtha't' theTchainber "is 5 disrupted and "the? I S hecific ationof- Letters Patent. Patented J uly f ip ilicafionnled Aug'ustS, 1918;Serial No; 248,906,

- nAvison, or (moron, come'ricur.

I i 'DIEEAYYIED-ACTIOIT'FUSEQ 1 tiallj uniform and "sufficient for AtionFuses; "and I do hereby declare the following to be affull";eleali'fian'd exact deseription' ofthe inVentioii; -suchas will en'-able' others skilled in the art to which it ap' pertains to inake and,use the same.

nients infdelayedlaction fuses," and it is f'lin- .7 tendedjfto provide1 fuse; in which aetion miyf'be delayedfor" a sl'i'ortbut predeter'purposes.

If it is desired, 1 :may supplement this ignition chamberj ustreferredto with fulmihate or other material used for detonatinghighexplosiire shellsqv r My ni en'tion 'i' s especially suitable foruse with projectiles dropped or firedfrom aeroplanes; where it isdesired to'explode theprojeetiles afteria predetermined depth 'in theWater-has beenreached, In Figure'l of the drawings I haveshown a fuseprovided .with thedelayed action attachment and mounted in ashell'adapted for firing from the Davis nonrreeoiligim',

' the said, shelIbeing described i the applibeen difiieiilt to seeuretheproper ttime interval between fth impact "of the 'profee'tileiand theignition or detonation of IhaYeiound thatbyattaching to the fuse fifer'dinary 'eon'struction Ya small chamberpartly 'filled 'with' powde'r of'esuitable type; a i and lha'ving'i the fw'alls fof this chamber of?suffieient' thiolm'ess; there 'I I be an appre eiable interval betweenthe time that the eation of"Andrew J Stone, Serial No.

submerged inines;

stood'after reference to the accompanying drawings, which like parts areindicated 1917, and entitled by similar reference symbols-throughout the'severalviews', and in which! Fig." 1 .shows'a central,longitudinal'secr" tionthroughrthe projectile and fuse, the ignitioncharge the projectile being" emitted, and parts of w th fuse being-shownl ineleyation. 1 z

i tenval 'may he'irafiedby vamg thefa inount of the powderused"in-saidchamber:' Thus; -*w ith a iehamber *of iven strength and,ca-

*pacity; the action' is slowerkwhere only ac ber .as".herein described.

j Fig e; d 7 Show modifications similar tolthosejshownin Figs. 3iand4. y

"Referring first t cFig; *1;-A represents the '-'sma11; amount of powderis contained therein By determ pid where Chamber isnearly 1 Again; the:action' "islmor e rapid with line grain powder than} with coarser grainbursting charge is omitted. fiomjthe aecomgthe,amount oifi pbwder td libei iused aiid the qu'aiity p w e time intez'velemay be secured whichits mflostan V 47 Figs? 3 and show modifications, similar fla'me -fiomsaid powder is applied to "the' t to Fig; 2, inwhieh .i'ulminate orother deto-= i hating material is also eontained in'the igni-' have'alsogdiseovered that this time in fj 1 1; 2 gisia: section, onelsmallerisale, throughthe ignition chamber, adapted to hody"of. theprojectile, which may be of;

either the type shown or of any suitable prei ferre'd type provided withthe usual chamber to receive the bursting ehargegwhich theplungerorothefioperating device C' fQr exploding the primer (Z carriedin the block l) secured in the end of tiletuse. This block D isperforated to permit the passage or the flame from the primer to thepowder charge F in the ignition chamber E, which is provided withinternal screw threads e engaging the external screw threads (Z block D.

By having this ignition chamber of sulli cicnt strength, and L .ing theproper charge or powder, which can best be determined by experiment,there is an appreciable interval between the time that the primerexplodes and the time the flame is transmitted to the bursting charge ofthe projectile.

In the modification shown in Figs. '2', 3, and l, the ignition chamber Eis provided with internal screw threads 6, by means of which it may beattached to any suitable type Or fuse, the rear end of the ignitionchamber being closed by the primer plug D, and the front end being alsoclosed.

In the form of device shown in Fig. 8, in addition to the powder chargeF, I provide a closed receptacle Gr filled with tulrninate or otherdetonat-ing material, the walls or which receptacle should be ofsuiticient thickness to resist the heat and pressure of the powder gasescreated in the ignition chamber E.

In the construction shown in Fig. a, I attach to the primer plug D astrong closed tube E partly tilled with powder, and this tube issurrounded by fulminate or other detonating material H, the end of theignition chamber being closed by the plug I.

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 show constructions simi lar to those shown in Figs. 2,3 and 4, except that the ignition chamber is a continuation of the {usestock, and the rear end of the fuse stock is closed by a screw cap K.

This fuse stock is internally screw threaded at b not only to engage thescrew threads of the cap K but also to engage the screw threads on theprimer block D which closes the rear end of the ignition chamber.

The operation or the device is as follows:

On striking the water or other target, the projectile is suddenlyretarded in its flight, and the plunger flies forward and strikes thepercussion cap. The flame from the percussion cap passes through thecentral aperture of the primer block into the ignition chamher, whichcontains a predetermined amount explosive matter, such as fineblac-kpowder. The amount of such explosive matter regulates the time for thecombustion in the cliamier to take place until it reaches such a. pointthat the pressure is sufliciently great to burst the chamber. Then theflame is propagated to the bursting charge in the shell proper.

Experiments have shown conclusively that with the ignition chambercompletely filled, the delayed action is minimum, and by do' on thecreasing the amount of the explosive in ignition chamber, the time ofbursting in the shell can be proportionately delayed; thus, byregulating the size, the thickness, and the material of the ignitioncase, and the character and amount of eXplosive carried within thiscase, the time of explosion, after the projectile strikes the water orother target,

can be regulated atwill to any desired amount, even though the actualintervals of time employed be very minute.

For example, by changing the amount of the ignition charge in the fusefrom 22 grains to 15 grains, the time of bursting of the envelop waschanged from approximately two hundredths of a second to threehundredths of a second, and this time will enable the projectile to passdown through the water to a. suflicient depth to accomplish the desiredresults before the projectile exglodes.

In the same way this delayed action would enable the projectile to passthrough the armored deck of ship, and would also enable the projectileto bury itself in the earth or masonry before the projectile exploded.

A similar delay would take place before the receptacle containing thefulminate shown in Figs. 3, d, 6 and 7 is crushed in by the powdergases, or before the receptacle was heated to a suflicient temperatureto set of! the tuhninate.

lVhile I have shown the various fuses as of the centrifugal type, itwill be obvious that other well known types of percussion fuse may beused in connection with my invention, and I do not mean to limit theinvention to details of construction except as particularly pointed outin the claims.

I claim l. A delayed action attaclnnent for shell fuses, comprising astrong envelop partly filled with gun powder and secured to the base ofthe fuse, with a passage for the flame from the primer into saidenvelop, substantially as described.

2. A delayed action attachment for shell fuses, comprising a strongenvelop partly filled with gun powder and secured to the base of thefuse, with a passage for the flame from the primer into said envelop,and a strong receptacle containing fulminate or the like also containedin said envelop, substantially as described.

The combination with a percussion fuse provided with a primer block andprimer, of a delayed action attachment therefor comprising a strongenvelop partly filled with gun powder secured to the base of the fuse,said primer block being provided with a passage to permit the flame fromsaid primer to enter said envelop, substantially as described.

l. The combination with a percussion fuse provided with a primer blockand primer,

of a delayed action attachment therefor comprising a strong enveloppartly filled with gun powder secured to the base of the fuse, saidprimer block being provided with a passage to permit theflame from saidprimer to enter said envelop, and a strong receptacle containingfulminate or the like also contained in said envelop, substantially asdescribed.

5. The method of securing delayed action I for percussion shell fuseswhich consists in attaching to the base of the fuse a strong enveloppartly filled with gun powder, and igniting this powder by the fusecausing the said envelop to rupture at theend of the time intervalrequired by the pressure to reach the maximum needed, substantially asdescribed.

6. The method of securing and adjusting the delayed action forpercussion shell fuses which consists in attaching to the base of thefuse a strong envelop partly filled with a predetermined charge of gunpowder, and igniting this powder by the fuse causing the said envelop torupture at the end of the time interval required by the pressure toreach the maximum needed, substantially as described.

GREGORY CALDWELL DAVISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

